Ben 10 2016 Reboot Episode Review: Shhh!

[Tactical Ochoa]

Episode Link:
http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Ben-10-2016/Episode-14?id=72325

Episode Review:
Before I get onto this review, just a little mention, that's a pretty terrible name for an episode. Alright, let's get to it.

So, this episode starts off in a pretty annoying way. Ben and Gwen are trying to compete against each other in some of the most annoying and childish ways possible (more childish than the characters themselves). Poor Max. The Rustbucket breaks down during the drive and instead of having Ben transform into Upgrade to fix the Rustbucket, the episode has to have its plot happen and Ben, Gwen, and Max conveniently comes upon a monastery. Turns out that everyone at the monastery are taking a vow of silence. Is it for cultural reasons or spiritual reasons or whatsoever? No, it's just because there's a dragon just sleeping at one of the temples. Yeah, what I guess is supposed to be a twist was explained when the plot synopsis of each episode popped up on Wikipedia so I was very much expecting this. God, Cartoon Network's marketing sucks.

Let's not get ahead of things here though. Ben, Gwen, and Max are given a simple set of rules. Don't talk and don't go to a certain specific temple (that the dragon is sleeping in). Of course, Ben and Gwen decide to keep up their stupid little competition and challenge each other to who can be more quiet between the two. Ok, I know that Ben and Gwen had this rivalry in the Original Series and many time they try to one up each other but they didn't take it that far to the point where they would do some of the most annoying and childish stuff out there. Bird sounds? Loudest spoon banging? Quiet game? They're 10-years-old; not preschoolers or kindergarteners. Unfortunately this isn't the end of it because I've seen clips of upcoming episodes a while back and Ben and Gwen once again pretty much act this way again in one of the episodes, Growing Pains.

As one of the members of the monastery, Starshine, shows Ben and Gwen around the monastery, Ben tries to make Gwen talk so that she could lose the challenge through a couple of different antics of Ben using his alien forms to screw with her...even though Ben talks first and is stupid enough to think that Gwen didn't notice. In fact, she noticed him lose the challenge like five times according to Gwen later in the episode. God Ben is such an idiot in this show...and no, that's not how he's supposed to be. In the Original Series, Ben is not an idiot. He's just impulsive, egocentric, and fun-loving. The Original Series version of Ben is also actually a pretty smart character. He has a good level of intelligence. Ben just has trouble focusing on the task at hand and when he is given enough of a push to bring his focus up, that is where we see what he's truly capable of. So no, Ben was not designed with the intention of being an idiot. He's just not the brightest person in the group but when he is focused on the task at hand, Ben is actually a pretty smart and very much capable character.

Anyways, back to the story, Ben once again does something stupid that further makes him even more unlikable and he awakens the dragon. So yeah, much like with the episode Waterfilter, Ben is pretty much cleaning up a mess that he was the cause of. After discovering that there's a dragon at the monastery, Gwen is pretty ticked off that Starshine didn't tell them about it. Starshine gives the excuse of the monastery's vow of silence but once again my bullshit detector is going off. Like I said before, the vow of silence is not for cultural reasons or spiritual reasons or whatsoever; it's for making sure that this dragon doesn't wake up and start terrorizing these people. There are other forms of communication, especially with today's technology, that can be used other than speaking and attempting sign language and improv. Have everyone's cell phones set to vibrate and text each other. Don't have Ben, Gwen, and/or Max's phone numbers, text what you want to say and then show them the screen of text. Don't have cell phones? Use paper and writing utensils. Make a sign that says "Please don't make loud noises because there's a living, breathing dragon sleeping at one of our temples and we don't want it woken up". In fact, why are these people even at the monastery? Wouldn't it be better to just have the area cordoned off so that there's little to no risk of the dragon being disturbed in its sleep?

Back to the episode. Ben transforms into Diamondhead (oh god, Roger Craig Smith as this alien?) and fights the dragon but has trouble doing so. Conveniently enough, apparently the crystals scattered around the monastery are I'm guessing the same type of crystals that Diamondhead is made out of because Starshine has Diamondhead meditate or whatsoever and thus use the aura in him from those very crystals to knock the dragon out and make him sleep again. After somehow managing to get the dragon back inside the temple, Ben uses Diamondhead to encase the dragon in crystals to imprison it for good. The day is saved, Starshine (having conveniently took some online courses on mechanics) fixes up the Rustbucket (again, why doesn't Ben just transform into Upgrade and fix the Rustbucket himself), and the trio goes on with their drive through California. Apparently, the dragon is still awake...or something. Unless the writers were trying to foreshadow something, that last part with the dragon's eye opening and closing was pretty pointless.

Overall, it's just more of the same. Same level of quality and problems as the other episodes. That's really just it with this episode. No need to repeat myself again here. The episode, Ben 24hrs, recently popped up online so I'll be getting to work on a review on that episode soon.